The Extra Squeeze Team: February Featured Author
February 7, 2021 by The Extra Squeeze in category Featured Author of the Month, The Extra Squeeze by The Extra Squeeze Team tagged as February Featured Authors, HO Charles, Jenny Jensen, Newbie Publishing Questions, Pen Names, Rebecca Forster, Robin Blakely, The Extra Squeeze Team
Each week in February we’ll be featuring The Extra Squeeze Team.
Ever wonder what industry professionals think about the issues that can really impact our careers? Each month The Extra Squeeze features a fresh topic related to books and publishing.
Amazon mover and shaker Rebecca Forster and her handpicked team of book professionals offer frank responses from the POV of each of their specialties — Writing, Editing, PR/Biz Development, and Cover Design.
Have you a question for The Extra Squeeze Team? Send them to us by using this handy link.
Dear Extra Squeeze Team: Do I HAVE to Keep Writing in the Same Genre?
Rebecca Forster
USA Today Bestselling author of 35 books, including the Witness series and the new Finn O’Brien series.
Switching genres is not a black and white issue but a function of the writer’s objective.
Writers by nature are a curious, opinionated and creative bunch. That means there is a tendency to write about whatever inspired them. Sadly this impulsive creativity wars with, and can undermine, the business of being creative.
So, if you are a writer whose primary concern is to explore all levels of your craft, writing in many different genres will be fulfilling. But if your primary concern were to use your writing to build a creative business, it would be wise to stick to one genre. Here is why:
1) Concentrating on one genre creates a dedicated fan base.
2) One genre allows the author to create a cohesive personal brand
3) Readers will know where to find you on the bookshelf whether it is in a brick and mortar or a digital bookstore.
4) Writers usually excel in one genre. To write in a completely different genre that is not as strong as your primary one only serves to dilute your brand.
This is not to say you can’t have diversity in your writing career. If you’re a thriller writer, it can take months to craft a 100,000-word novel. Writing shorter genre romantic suspense might satisfy your desire to write in a separate genre, allow you to bring out more books each year, and your output will still appeal to your fan base while growing a cross-over fan base in romantic suspense. Do you write fantasy? Then try magical realism. Do you write romance? Cross over to women’s fiction or sagas. Just remember to make your secondary market tangential to your primary.
New writers may want to try on different genres for size to find out where their strengths lie. Established authors who want to try a completely different genre may want to consider a pseudonym. Either way, the first thing to do is decide what your career objective is and then make a genre plan to meet it.
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Jenny Jensen
Developmental editor who has worked for twenty plus years with new and established authors of both fiction and non-fiction, traditional and indie.
No, of course not. You can write in any genre you desire. The outcome of that would depend on how much weight you place on each side of art vs business of writing equation.
If you weigh in about equal between writing as your expressive art and the business of making that art pay (either recognition or income) you’re well aware of the importance of branding your work for a particular audience. You know the effort involved in creating an online author presence, beginning with a body of solid work, which is publicized and supported by blogs, reviews, interviews, twitter, newsletters, Face Book etc. It takes time and consistent work to build an author platform and a fan base. Your fans find you and stick with you because they want to read the genre you’re writing in, they expect to read that genre and because you are good enough at that genre to either be building, or have built, a solid following.
Traditional publishers shy away from letting an author branch out into a different genre. They don’t want to upset an established cash cow. In that respect the traditional marketing model is similar to the Indie model. Poor A. A. Milne — he really wanted to write murder mysteries (he published one: The Red House Mystery) but his publisher would never let him taint the image of Christopher and friends. There are major exceptions; J. K. Rowling and Anne Rice are two. Both of these fabulous authors had a huge, loyal fan base before they made the genre jump. When you write that well most of us will follow blindly! I know I do and I’ve not been disappointed.
If you know you have great stories in you that cross genre typing you can always publish one genre under a nom de plume. That’s very common. Eventually a well-known writer gets outed as the person behind the false moniker but by that time she’s hooked a whole new audience so everyone is happy.
Writing in different genres is, I think, an excellent way to exercise and grow your writing skills. Just the difference in voice between the lady of an Edwardian romance and the female warrior of a dungeons and dragons fantasy would require a major stretch of skills. Add plot mechanics, atmosphere and secondary characters and you’re running a writing marathon. That’s the kind of practice that really sharpens a writer’s eye. I’d never discourage that.
The important thing to remember if you want to successfully write in more than one genre is to be sure you can excel in one of them first.
Robin Blakely
PR/Business Development coach for writers and artists; CEO, Creative Center of America; member, Forbes Coaches Council.
No, you don’t have to keep writing in the same genre. But, why would you leave?
Over the years, authors have privately shared many reasons for making big shifts in their writing careers.
- Sometimes you start out in the wrong place, and your efforts just aren’t working.
- Sometimes you change so much as you grow professionally that your story interests carry you to a new genre.
- Sometimes the original genre changes and you no longer feel at home creating the types of stories you once enjoyed.
As a writer, you are a talent-driven brand, and talent-driven brands are fueled by passion. So, it always makes sense to follow your passion. However, passion can sometimes be mistaken for a whim. So, think hard about the shift you are contemplating. Prepare for what could be ahead.
From a PR, Marketing, and Sales perspective think about desired outcomes before you decide to leave your readers and move.
- Consider the risks and the benefits to the business side of your creativity.
- Take a critical look at what you are building—there is more than your written work at stake.
- In addition to the books you are creating, you are also steadily building a community of readers. Jumping ship to another genre will be like moving from your beloved neighborhood to a new community. The readers you got to know over here may not go with you over there when you leave. They may like you enough to come visit, but it is likely that they won’t come by often.
PR-wise, you are starting over when you begin to write in a new genre. Even if you keep writing for your original genre, you will still be starting over reader-wise with your new work. Still, just like in the real world with an apartment or a starter home, a simple move can be just what you needed to live happily ever after.
H.O. Charles
Cover designer and author of the fantasy series, The Fireblade Array
When you find out, please let me know because I am about to publish a(n) historical fiction novel (after years of writing in fantasy!).
There’s no reason why an author wouldn’t have the *ability* to write in another genre, as long as the enthusiasm and skill for it is there. The main thing that I’d be concerned about is audience. The audience you build up whilst writing for one genre may not enjoy your new genre, and it may be that only die-hard fans will want to make the crossing, so to speak. And if they did, the resulting reviews and sales could go either way. Essentially you’d be back at square 1, or perhaps square 1.43, in building a readership for your books.
I wonder if JK Rowling’s endeavour with crime fiction (Robert Galbraith) might serve as a useful source of information. The books were released under a different pseudonym (just as Nora Roberts’ publisher insisted), although this was at JK’s behest since she wanted to “go back to the beginning of a writing career in this new genre, to work without hype or expectation and to receive totally unvarnished feedback.”
On one hand, she received positive reviews as a ‘debut author’, but only sold 1,500 copies in the three months before her true identity was revealed (I say only – that’s not bad going for many authors out there!).
When it was revealed that Galbraith was Rowling, sales shot through the roof, but still only half as many people have written reviews for those books as have done so for the Potter series. From that, I would suggest that if your performance in your first genre is good, then it can only help build a readership for your new genre, but don’t expect sales to match those of your first genre. However, if your foray into your new genre is flawed for any reason, I suppose *potentially* it could negatively affect your existing reputation.
Without having published my non-fantasy book yet, I say go for it. It’s a great way to learn and explore new techniques, approaches, worlds and really grow as an author. I’m really enjoying doing something different.
Ever wonder what industry professionals think about the issues that can really impact our careers? Each month The Extra Squeeze features a fresh topic related to books and publishing.
Amazon mover and shaker Rebecca Forster and her handpicked team of book professionals offer frank responses from the POV of each of their specialties — Writing, Editing, PR/Biz Development, and Cover Design.
Dear Extra Squeeze, Do You Have Audio Book Tips?
January 31, 2021 by The Extra Squeeze in category The Extra Squeeze by The Extra Squeeze Team, Writing tagged as audio books, H.O. Charles, Jenny Jensen, Rebecca Forster., Robin Blakely, The Extra Squeeze Team
Dear Extra Squeeze Team, I am interested in audio books, but I do not know how to get started in that arena…what are your tips?
Robin Blakely
PR/Business Development coach for writers and artists; CEO, Creative Center of America; member, Forbes Coaches Council.
The most important thing is to evaluate and prepare to articulate what you want. Listen to audio books in the genre of your work. Find the best ones that resonate with you. Note who the voice talent is and what you like about their performances. Then, step back and listen to the best audio books in other genres. Sometimes there is a huge difference between what is good in one genre and what is good in another genre. Noticing what you like and don’t like becomes more apparent through comparisons. Researching what you like and why will strengthen your vision for the end product. If you know what you really want and can express it, you will be able to find the talent you want in the audio arena.
Jenny Jensen
Developmental editor who has worked for twenty plus years with new and established authors of both fiction and non-fiction, traditional and indie.
Not sure how much help I can offer as I know nothing about distributing audio books, but I can say that the place to begin is with the voice talent. I used to produce radio spots and one had to keep a book of voice talent and jump through audition hoops to find the voice that best fit the ad’s product and audience. It’s so much easier today.
There are hundreds of really fine voice actors on the internet and most of them have the equipment needed at their fingertips. The actor’s websites have links to examples of their work so all you have to do is listen and consider if that voice has the right intonation, quality, clarity and personality to be a good narrator for your particular story. That’s a pretty subjective decision, so no tips on that.
I do suggest, however, that you test enough of the actor’s handling of dialog to know if it will work. Do you like the way she handles a man’s voice? How does he handle female voices? Children? Old people? Surprise, Anger? Most actors, once contacted, will audition a passage from your work. Then be aware of how the actor handles the issue of rights.
Rebecca Forster
USA Today Bestselling author of 35 books, including the Witness series and the new Finn O’Brien series.
I’m the wrong person to ask about audio books. I am not an ‘audio’ reader and I proved it when a producer bought my series. I was asked to choose a narrator, and I did not choose well. I will eagerly read my colleagues suggestions and we’ll learn together.
H.O. Charles
Cover designer and author of the fantasy series, The Fireblade Array
I’ve yet to record mine, despite years of working on radio programs and in audio production! From a production perspective, you need a room with dampened sound (soft furnishings to absorb echo–think of a studio with egg cartons and foam on the walls). You need a good microphone and a lot of disk space. There’s probably a way of recording using a mobile phone, these days (I’m a bit out of date!), as their microphones are improving all the time.
Avoid mic pops – this is where your Ps and Bs thump the mic as you spit at it. Make your editing easier by enunciating clearly and repeating a whole line when you make a mistake. Keep your background noise (kicking the desk, pets, traffic…) to the absolute minimum. For editing, Adobe Audition has long been the best tool, but it requires some getting-used-to for those just learning. Audacity is free and much simpler for the newbie.
Practice your acting skills. There’s nothing more boring than a reader going through an entire novel in monotone. Listeners latch onto variation in pitch and tone, and emotion. You may feel ridiculous doing it, but it’ll sound much better in the final edit.
Ever wonder what industry professionals think about the issues that can really impact our careers? Each month The Extra Squeeze features a fresh topic related to books and publishing.
Amazon mover and shaker Rebecca Forster and her handpicked team of book professionals offer frank responses from the POV of each of their specialties — Writing, Editing, PR/Biz Development, and Cover Design.
If you have a question for The Extra Squeeze Team, use our handy dandy contact form.
Dear Extra Squeeze Team, Is My Blurb Too Long . . . Help?
December 31, 2020 by The Extra Squeeze in category The Extra Squeeze by The Extra Squeeze Team tagged as back cover copy, book blurb, description, The Extra Squeeze Team, writing
Dear Extra Squeeze Team, I am afraid I am telling too much in my book description; it is really long, and I don’t know how to shut up…how do I make it concise?
Robin Blakely
PR/Business Development coach for writers and artists; CEO, Creative Center of America; member, Forbes Coaches Council.
If you think you are telling too much, you probably are. Likely, you are caught up in the literal play-by-play of the work, rather than the essence of the story that makes the reader want to read. One way to make the description shorter and more interesting is to step away from the task completely for a bit. Ask readers of the manuscript to send you their descriptions. Acquire three or four descriptions and blend those descriptions. Try not to get too emotionally caught up in the story of the story. Remember: this is about coaxing readers to read, not writing a book report to prove you know what happened.
H.O. Charles
Cover designer and author of the fantasy series, The Fireblade Array
Start with the pieces you want to keep, so that it makes sense, and strip out everything else. Too much description? Too many adjectives? Look at bestseller summaries and take some inspiration from their structure. They will have had whole teams to work on theirs, so don’t worry if it takes you a while to get it right.
Jenny Jensen
Developmental editor who has worked for twenty plus years with new and established authors of both fiction and non-fiction, traditional and indie.
A good book description works more like a lure than a synopsis. Intricate descriptions of ‘what happens’ is too much tell, so don’t give away the story. Try dangling the promise of a great read by hitting the plot highlights as they happen on your dramatic arc — and then leave it dangling before you hit the denouement.
If you pare it down to just those points that support and move the plot — this could be characters, the problem, the compelling idea — and make the tone fit the story — eerie for horror, soft for romance, brittle for a thriller, punchy for humor — it makes the task more manageable.
A book description is not the condensed version; it’s an opportunity to tantalize and intrigue a reader with what makes your story irresistible.
Rebecca Forster
USA Today Bestselling author of 35 books, including the Witness series and the new Finn O’Brien series.
My gut is my favorite writing tool, too. Kudos on recognizing something is wrong. Regarding blurbs, I have taken a lesson from my friends who write scripts and I start with a logline. This is one sentence that lays out the hero, the goal, and the challenge the hero faces.
This is a story about a woman determined to save her family from the ravages of the Civil War no matter what the personal cost.
That is Gone with The Wind in one sentence. Once you have your log line, build on it. Use active words, dramatic words, and draw the reader into the story and stop before you give it away. This is the one piece of writing you should edit, and edit, and edit, and then edit one more time. Blurb writing is a craft to be honed.
Ever wonder what industry professionals think about the issues that can really impact our careers? Each month The Extra Squeeze features a fresh topic related to books and publishing.
Amazon mover and shaker Rebecca Forster and her handpicked team of book professionals offer frank responses from the POV of each of their specialties — Writing, Editing, PR/Biz Development, and Cover Design.
If you have a question for The Extra Squeeze Team, use our handy dandy contact form.
Dear Extra Squeeze Team, Should I Quit Writing?
October 31, 2020 by The Extra Squeeze in category The Extra Squeeze by The Extra Squeeze Team tagged as Dear Extra Squeeze Team, inspiration, Should I Quit Writing, The Extra Squeeze Team, Writing Advice, writing help
Dear Extra Squeeze Team,
It feels like the entire world is telling me to quit writing…is this normal and what should I do? Should I quit writing?
Rebecca Forster
USA Today Bestselling author of 35 books, including the Witness series and the new Finn O’Brien series.
I am tempted to sit down beside you and just cry.
Instead, I’m going to tell you to buck up, bucko!
I know, I hated hearing that too, but we’ve all been there, done that. Instead of being the company misery loves, I’ll offer this. I sold my first three books and then spent years trying to sell another one. When I finally figured out what was wrong, there was no stopping me. I also had a good friend who was rejected 40 times, and when she finally sold a book her career took off. Every writer’s struggle is different and how we deal with it is too.
In my case, I defaulted to my comfort zone — analysis. I certainly could put a sentence together, but when I reread my rejection letters, I realized my storytelling was lacking. Instead of flying by the seat of my pants as I had early on, I now sought out ways to educate myself about structure. I also realized I was afraid to delve into my characters. They were cookie cutter, and I needed to be more invested in their lives. I asked myself if I was writing in the correct genre. When the answer was no, and I switched genres my career turned around. Finally, I asked myself if I understood the publishing businesses well enough to navigate it.
The bottom line was this I needed to learn a craft. Writing isn’t just something that happens magically. You need to stretch your creative and business muscles, learn the game, and then make it your own. Information is out there. Embrace it, understand it, and use it. If you’re having trouble being objective about your own work, seek out an editor. If you can’t afford an editor, find a mentor. If you can’t find a mentor, find a friend who loves to read and who is very honest to give you feedback. If the world is telling you to quit, figure out why, and then show the world they were wrong.
Jenny Jensen
Developmental editor who has worked for twenty plus years with new and established authors of both fiction and non-fiction, traditional and indie.
Do your level best to ignore those negative feelings —there’s probably few writers who haven’t felt doubt. Keep writing. Everyday. Storytelling is a craft and like every craft it takes practice to perfect. Rejection is a part of that process and is often the most instructive tool a writer can receive: why was the work rejected? Work on strengthening the weaknesses that caused the rejection. Same with healthy criticism.
Simple is not always easy, but it really is simple. If you want to write, then there is nothing that will stop you. Just keep on writing and improving, writing and improving even more.
H.O. Charles
Cover designer and author of the fantasy series, The Fireblade Array
Yes, it’s normal.
Commercially speaking, it’s very hard to know when to listen to the world and when to defy it. Sometimes great works are never appreciated until decades later.
Outside of money, if you feel you have to write, then it doesn’t matter what the world thinks. Most writers find their fingers tapping away at something regardless of negative reviews, poor sales etc. It has to be a hobby you enjoy before anything else.
Robin Blakely
PR/Business Development coach for writers and artists; CEO, Creative Center of America; member, Forbes Coaches Council.
Welcome to the world of writing.
It is completely normal to feel, from time to time, that this world has conspired against you and that it is secretly or not-so-secretly telling you to quit writing. This quitting option seems to present itself at critical moments repeatedly while creative people are wandering up the road less traveled.
When you feel this kind of despair, you have two simple choices: quit or don’t quit. If you decide to quit, perhaps you can imagine that the quitting is just for a while, not forever. Sometimes quitting for a period of time can be a pretty good choice if you are exhausted and burned out.
But, I would hope that you might choose to not quit. If you choose to carry on instead of quitting, perhaps you could take this juncture to step back for a moment and evaluate what is happening to make you feel this way.
Perhaps you have surrounded yourself with naysayers. If so, get away from them. Perhaps you have driven yourself to exhaustion with self-demands of perfection or self-expectations of production. If so, get some help from someone who can objectively reset those goalposts with you.
Everyone goes through stages and phases of battle weariness when fighting the unknown. Writers face a lot of unknowns and the most intense moments typically happen right before a breakthrough.
Ever wonder what industry professionals think about the issues that can really impact our careers? Each month The Extra Squeeze features a fresh topic related to books and publishing.
Amazon mover and shaker Rebecca Forster and her handpicked team of book professionals offer frank responses from the POV of each of their specialties — Writing, Editing, PR/Biz Development, and Cover Design.
If you have a question for The Extra Squeeze Team, use our handy dandy contact form.
